I’m gonna just go ahead right here, right now and make it official (as if that’s really necessary): our kitchen remodel project is our very own version of “The Money Pit”.

Pull out the wallet…bust the budget…we’re only a couple of weeks into mess.
My weekend demo games have proven to be somewhat costly. The damage to
the checkbook is yet to be felt but mind you, it is nothing that I’ve done while wielding a hammer and pry bar (I think or that I’m know of). It is the visual revelation of 1970’s home construction techniques done so for the sake of the builder’s convenience and not the resident wanting to remodel his work sometime later down the road.

As someone amongst us wanted those pesky furdowns to be history (and it will look better when it’s all said and done), we had to remove a ceiling-suspended cabinet. A gaping hole was created. Gus the handyman was called….
As the pesky furdown above the cabinets became history, it was quickly revealed while pulling sheetrock from the wall that the electrical wires would require attention. The builder laid the wires through the attic. When they came to the kitchen (and furdown), wires were laid over and around the wall header before routed down the wall. Aaarrrggghhh. So Tom the electrician was called….

As more of the pesky furdown – that being above the sink – became history, more interest was quickly revealed. For reasons beyond my level of rational hammered and nailed thought, an insulation-wrapped waterline from under the sink ran up the wall to the ceiling, poked into the furdown space, turned the corner, followed the wall before snaking down the studs to serve the refrigerator. That route took about 16′ of copper pipe. Going through the cabinets would only require half that. A definite reroute was necessary. Kenny the plumber was called….

Gus takes down a cabinet, yet we want more built. Huh? Wendell the cabinet man was called….

In places, 30-year-old wall paper needed removed from the walls. Do you know how stubborn 30-year-old wall paper is to peel? And these days, they don’t make glue like they used to. The sheetrock took a beating. New wall texturing is in dire need. What color are we gonna paint the walls and cabinets? I know, Ken the painter extraordinaire was called….

We made 3 trips to supply yards today in dealing with the counter tops. All I  needed to say was “thanks a whole heck of a lot” to John the granite guy once he was called….

So lets recap the kitchen escapade thus far: Gus the handyman does what we ask and is too polite to tell us were “nuts”. Tom the electrician greets use with a smile – no it’s more of a smirk –  while peering over his shiny aluminum estimator pad box. Kenny the plumber gets excited whenever we call and hurries right over like our needs are an automatic “cha-ching” to him. Wendell the cabinet man, well, he gets more excited over custom building us a Murphy bed than building new cabinets – hmmmm. John the granite guy is politely aggravated with our indecision and discussions, not to mention puzzled by our choices. Ken the painter extraordinaire has a peculiar laugh of disbelief at us – I swear it’s one that says “are you serious” before the chuckle ever begins.

Oh wait…did I mention the while pulling the sheetrock off the studs, the microwave and dishwasher electricity suspended its service to the kitchen? No need to call anyone for that – I fixed it.